Unveiling diverse planet formation environments with millimeter imaging

行星是由年轻恒星周围圆盘中的尘埃、气体和冰组成的。圆盘观测提供了对行星性质变化的洞察，以及最终像太阳系这样的地方可能会如何发展。行星形成模型在很大程度上受到附近最容易观察到的孤立圆盘的影响。为了探索行星形成条件的变化，该计划将使用射电望远镜来分析环境中圆盘的结构和化学成分，这些环境的特征还不够详细。调查员将培养一名研究生和一名本科生。作为哥伦比亚大学下一代工程计划的一部分，她还将指导代表人数不足的公立高中生。该计划将在传统上具有挑战性的条件下对原行星盘进行敏感的观测研究，以便更好地了解行星形成的环境可能如何偏离研究最深入的系统。来自阿塔卡马大毫米/亚毫米阵列的分子线和尘埃连续体图像将用于将最近坠入云/包层物质的盘的化学性质与以前对孤立盘的观测进行比较，重新评估显示行星-盘相互作用证据的明显年轻的嵌入盘的进化分类，并在高辐射恒星形成区域搜索盘亚结构，以评估行星-盘相互作用是否以类似于附近较少辐射区域的方式发生。研究人员还将使用绿岸望远镜的宽域CO测绘来表征正在经历晚期撞击的盘上可用大型气藏的质量和分布。这一裁决反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Planets are made from dust, gas, and ice in disks around young stars. Disk observations offer insight into why planet properties vary, and ultimately how places like the Solar System might develop. Planet formation models have been heavily shaped by the nearby, isolated disks that could be most readily observed. To explore variations in planet formation conditions, the program will use radio telescopes to analyze the structure and chemistry of disks in environments that have been characterized in less detail. The investigator will train a graduate and an undergraduate student. She will also mentor underrepresented public high school students as part of Columbia University's Engineering the Next Generation program.This program will conduct sensitive observational studies of protoplanetary disks under conditions that have traditionally been challenging to characterize in order to provide a better understanding of how the circumstances of planet formation might deviate from those of the best-studied systems. Molecular line and dust continuum images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-millimeter Array will be used to compare the chemical properties of disks undergoing late infall of cloud/envelope material to previous observations of isolated disks, re-evaluate the evolutionary classification of an apparently young, embedded disk exhibiting evidence of planet-disk interactions, and search for disk substructures in a highly irradiated star-forming region to assess whether planet-disk interactions occur in a manner similar to nearby, less-irradiated regions. The investigator will also use widefield CO mapping with the Green Bank Telescope to characterize the mass and distribution of the large-scale gas reservoir available to a disk undergoing late infall.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.